Old flags from uncertain sources

image by Mario Fabretto

The knowledge of old Turkish flags isn't very clear even if we know
that a lot of flags were used. This flag is quite common on flag
books and charts from the middle of 18th century and until the middle
of the 19th century. Among them I remember Norie and Hobbs (1848)
[noh48], Rosenfeld (1883),
Flaggen Almanack (ca. 1844). The flag didn't appear on
Le Gras (1858) so I think that its use ended in
the first half of the 19th century. The only thing we can say is that flags with
many stripes and irregular shape were quite common for the merchant ships
sailing from north African ports.
From many captured flags we also know that similar flags were used on
land also, but with different colors and arrangements. The particular
use of them is obscure.
Mario Fabretto, 13 July 1997

I read that the green, yellow, green triband is the traditional
flag of the Mameluks. The Mameluks were defeated by Bonaparte (1798),
but came back after some years (1808) and were again defeated and
massacred by Mehmed Ali (1 March 1811). The greater part of the
Mameluks were ethnical Cherkess.
Jaume Ollé, 9 July 1997

In the flag chart created by Dutch cartographer Pieter Schenk in 1711, which
was published in the atlas by Guillaume Delisle of France in 1730 (reissued in
1739 as the "Nouvel atlas" by Covens & Mortier of Amsterdam), Egypt is
represented by a green-yellow-green horizontal triband, which is titled "Mamelik".
This "Mamluk" flag is grouped with those of the Ottoman Empire, reflecting the
then political status of Egypt. It is obviously the predecessor of the similar
flag of Egypt from the 19th century, from which it differs by simpler shape.
Source: Allen, Phillip, The Atlas of Atlases, London: Bounty Books, 2005,
ISBN-13 978-0-7537-1311-2Tomislav Todorovic, 22 December 2008

image by Chris Young

The "Egyptian" flag, from a copy of People's Atlas of the
World published in April 1899 (almost exactly 100 years ago) by
Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatrick of Springfield, Ohio. The very first
page is a color chart of "Flags of Various Nations".Chris Young, 26 March 1999

image by António
Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2006

On page https://www.gfg.com/19th/ is
a nice collection of national flags, US states and territories, city flags and
naval flags. These are the Allen & Ginter's
Cigarette Cards, nos. 9, 10, 11 and 17. Most are as expected for
contemporary information, and allow us to date the series as not-earlier-than
1885 and perhaps even 1889. The flag for Egypt is a red flag with a white
crescent pointing to the fly.António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2006

Published in A Chart of
National Flags (1858), a plain green flag with a white smallish
(half-height) “banana”-style crescent.António
Martins-Tuválkin, 8 September 2008

Ottoman flag in the XIXth century

image by Željko
Heimer

"The Ottoman flag in the XIXth century normally bore a white star
and crescent on its red field."
Quoted from Whitney Smith
[smi75c] by Nick
Artimovich, 23 April 1996

image by Martin Grieve,
11 January 2008

Page 73 of Flags of Maritime Nations shows
the Egyptian flag at that time, but I was lead to believe that this was
essentially the Turkish flag (Smith
1975). There is a distinct difference in the design of the devices which are
centrally positioned on a 2:3? flag. This appears to be deliberate as the
Turkish flag from the same source is the same as today's contemporary version,
or so it would seem at a glance.Martin Grieve, 11 January 2008

Attached is a photo of the flag
displayed at Cairo Military Museum I took several years ago.Nozomi
Kariyasu, 6 March 2018

Khedive flag

image by Željko Heimer

"Muhammad Ali did introduce one distinctive new flag which
eventually became the first real Egyptian national flag. Perhaps to
symbolize the victory of his armies in 3 continents (Europe, Asia,
and Africa) or his own sovereignty over Egypt, Nubia, and the Sudan,
Ali set three white crescents and three stars on a red field. (...)
In 1882, Egyptian nationalists, seeking to take leadership in their
own land by deposing the khedive, provided the pretext Britain sought
for occupying the country. A promise was made that Her Majesty's
troops would leave "as soon as the state of the country and the
organization of proper means for the maintenance of the Khedivial
authority will admit of it."

This flag was the personal standard of the Khedive.Josh Fruhlinger, 13 February 1996

The red flag with three crescents and stars, may have had a wider
use than purely by the Khedive. I believe Kitchener's 1898
Anglo-Egyptian expedition to the Sudan carried it (along with the
Union Jack of course!)Roy Stilling, 14 February 1996

The Khedive flag was used during the Sultanate of Egypt. Khedive (Ottoman
Turkish: خدیو‎ Hıdiv) is a title largely equivalent to the English word Viceroy.
It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha (Turkish:
Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa, General Muhammad Ali of Kavala), the governor of Egypt
and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire. The initially self-declared title
was officially recognized by the Ottoman government in 1867, and used
subsequently by Ismail Pasha, and his dynastic successors until 1914 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khedive).
This period is also known as Khedivate of Egypt, as well as relating the flag
directly to Sudan."The Muhammad Ali dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Egypt
and Sudan from the 19th to the mid-20th century. It is named after its
progenitor, Muhammad Ali Pasha, regarded as the founder of modern Egypt. It was
also more formally known as the Alawiyya dynasty (Arabic: الأسرة العلوية‎ al-Usra
al-'Alawiyya). Because a majority of the rulers from this dynasty bore the title
Khedive, it was often referred to by contemporaries as the 'Khedival dynasty'."
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_dynastyThis distinctive
personal standard introduced by the Khedive Muhammad Ali - a set three white
crescents and three stars on a red field - became the first real Egyptian
national flag in the mid 19th century. When Egyptian nationalists in 1882 sought
to depose the khedive, Great Britain - occupying Egypt to maintain the Khedivial
authority - flew this flag in conjunction with the Union Jack as a symbol of the
Egyptian protectorate.Esteban Rivera, 6 March 2018

In this historical catalog (attributed to Dr. Whitney Smith in other sources,
namely
https://archive.cnx.org/contents/79a5e01f-62bc-411c-bf37-52c6ab47aa6e@7/identifying-the-flags-of-the-souvenir-of-egypt)
states that "Underlining his military independence within the Ottoman Empire,
Muhammad Ali created a system of distinguishing flags for the navy that was
different from the Ottoman system. Probably it dates back to the naval campaigns
in the twenties of the 19th century. The flags were the flags for the Rear
Admiral, the Vice-Admiral and the Admiral, showing on a red field a crescent
with one, two and three six-pointed stars respectively. A personal flag for
Mohammed Ali himself showed three crescents-and-stars on a red field and this
corresponds with the rank of Grand Admiral or the Admiral of the (Egyptian)
Fleet."

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 March 2018

Image describes a set of 12 flags, as follows:"Distinguishing Flags of
the Egyptian and Ottoman Navy, 1841 ca" (from left to right):First row:1. Flag of the Government2. Flag of the Imperial Family3.
Muhammad Ali

Second row:4. Admiral of Egypt5. Vice-admiral of
Egypt6. Rear-admiral of Egypt

Third row:7. Rear-admiral of the
Porte8. Vice-admiral of the Porte9. Admiral of the Porte

Notice that the flag of Muhammad Ali corresponds with the flag of the
Grand-admiral of the Porte.

It is possible that these flags were also the
distinguishing flags of the corresponding ranks of the army but nothing is
known about suchflags.

The flag of Muhammad Ali himself, the
six-pointed stars replaced by five-pointed ones was also flown as the
personal flags of later rulers of Egypt, bearing the title of khedive and
sultan. We may assume that in fact not these titles were symbolized, but the
rank of grand-admiral or admiral of the (Egyptian) fleet. It was only
abandoned in 1922 with the establishment of the kingdom when it wasreplaced
by a blue flag with the royal arms between four royal crowns in the corners.

The coat of arms of the ruler of Egypt showed a crescent and three stars
from about the second half of the reign of Muhammad Ali until 1952. The only
exception of this rule are the arms of Abbas Hilmi II (1879-1914) who
introduced a coat of arms with three crescents and stars in about 1907 and
the arms of his successors, sultans of Egypt until 1922."Esteban Rivera, 6 March 2018